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Delhi City Information

Delhi Airlines, Destinations & Terminals

Delhi is a sprawling and ancient city of 13 million people in northern India. New Delhi, the national capital, forms a small part of the wider metropolis. Most people, however, use New Delhi and Delhi interchangeably to mean the greater city of Delhi.

Old Delhi today has a rich and colourful character, stemming from its organic growth over several centuries and its still somewhat medieval ambience, majestic monuments, labyrinthine alleys, crowds of beggars and street-vendors, bazaars of jewellry market at Dariba Kalan, the embroidery brocade market at Kinari Bazar or the parathewali Gali (Indian bread street) all within the limits of Chandni Chowk (literally, “moonlit square”). A cycle Rickshaw tour through the winding lanes and by-lanes will show you all it has!

In contrast stands the New Delhi of Edwin Lutyens - who besides the city, designed the vice-regal palace to represent "the ideal of British Empire". The Beating of the Retreat in the square below the palace, replayed every Republic Day when the sun goes down showing off the monumental pink sandstone of the secretariat, where the bands assemble to play, besides others the English hymn "Abide with Me", reminiscent one of the Colonial past!

Today Delhi is growing at a breathless pace, beyond the scattered citadels of erstwhile dynasties and far beyond the ken of the colonial and latter-day town plan. Delhites display an amazing ability to adjust to influences from various communities and regions yet retain their culture.

Currently, there are 2 terminals in use, but the third one will be in use before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which are to be held in Delhi in October. For now, Terminal 1 is the domestic terminal, Terminal 2 the international one. For more information about airlines, also visit the budget airlines and list of airlines articles.

Terminals

IGI Airport serves as a major hub or a focus destination for several Indian carriers including Air India, Air India Regional, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and Vistara. Approximately 80 airlines serve this airport. At present there are two active scheduled passenger terminals, a dedicated Hajj terminal and a cargo terminal.

Terminal 1Terminal 1 is currently used by low cost carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.

Terminal 1ATerminal 1A was built in the early 1990s to cater to Indian Airlines. It had to be refurbished after a fire gutted the interiors and DIAL significantly upgraded the terminal. It was used by Air India Regional until it moved to the new Terminal 3 on 11 November 2010. The terminal is now closed and is expected to be torn down on the completion of newer terminals.

Terminal 1CTerminal 1C is used only for domestic arrivals. The terminal has been upgraded with a new expanded greeting area and a larger luggage reclaim area with 8 belts.

Terminal 1D]Terminal 1D is the newly built domestic departure terminal with a total floor space of 35,000 m2 and has a capacity to handle 10 million passengers per year. Terminal 1D commenced operations on 15 April 2009. It has 72 Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) enabled check-in counters, 16 self check-in counters, and 16 security channels.

Terminal 2Terminal 2 was opened on 1 May 1986, at a cost of Rs. 950 million. The terminal is currently out of commission.

Terminal 3Designed by HOK working in consultation with Mott MacDonald, the new Terminal 3 is a two-tier building spread over an area of 20 acres, with the lower floor being the arrivals area, and the upper floor being a departures area. This terminal has 168 check-in counters, 78 aerobridges at 48 contact stands, 54 parking bays, 95 immigration counters, 15 X-ray screening areas, for less waiting times, duty-free shops, and other features.

Domestic full-service airlines operate from the Terminal 3 including Air India, the national carrier and Jet Airways moved their domestic operations to the new terminal in November 2010. The recently launched Tata & Singapore Airlines airline joint-venture Vistara also operates from Terminal 3.

Terminals 4, 5 and 6Terminals 4, 5 and 6 will be built at a later stage, which will be triggered by growth in traffic, and once completed, all international flights will move to these three new terminals, while Terminal 3 will then solely be used for handling domestic air traffic. A new cargo handling building is also planned. According to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), these new terminals will increase the airport's annual passenger volume capacity to 100 million.